One person was killed and dozens of others were injured, including two in critical condition, when a tour bus rear-ended an SUV early Sunday, May 11 and the car caught fire on the 60 Freeway in Hacienda Heights, authorities said.
The crash on the westbound freeway, at the Hacienda Boulevard off-ramp, occurred shortly after 5 a.m.
Firefighters and paramedics were dispatched at 5:07 a.m. and reported that an SUV was fully engulfed in flames, trapping the driver inside. The fire did not spread to the bus, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
The SUV driver was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the department.
CHP Officer Zachary Salazar said 63 people were aboard the bus, including the driver, and a total of 32 people on the bus were transported to hospitals.
Freelance news videographer OC Hawk reported that the bus was coming from the Morongo area and headed to Koreatown.
According to the CHP, the Nissan SUV was stalled on the 60 Freeway when the tour bus slammed into the back of it. The bus then veered to the right and moved across all the westbound lanes before hitting a guardrail on the shoulder, ABC7 reported.
It’s unclear why the SUV was stopped in the roadway.
The westbound freeway was fully closed for a few hours after the crash, but some lanes had reopened by 8:30 a.m. and a Sigalert was completely canceled as of 10:20 a.m.
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